American King James Version - AKJV - 1999
Genesis 19
1
And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;
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2
And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and you shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, No; but we will abide in the street all night.
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3
And he pressed on them greatly; and they turned in to him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.
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4
But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:
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5
And they called to Lot, and said to him, Where are the men which came in to you this night? bring them out to us, that we may know them.
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6
And Lot went out at the door to them, and shut the door after him,
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Parallel theme
Judges 19:23
7
And said, I pray you, brothers, do not so wickedly.
8
Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out to you, and do you to them as is good in your eyes: only to these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.
Reference
Good
Judges 19:24
Romans 3:8
Parallel theme
Isaiah 58:7
Mark 9:6
Exodus 32:22
Genesis 18:5
Genesis 42:37
Judges 9:15
9
And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with you, than with them. And they pressed sore on the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.
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10
But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.
11
And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
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12
And the men said to Lot, Have you here any besides? son in law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whatever you have in the city, bring them out of this place:
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13
For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.
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References Lord
Genesis 18:20
14
And Lot went out, and spoke to his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked to his sons in law.
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Parallel theme
Numbers 16:21
Numbers 16:45
Numbers 16:26
2 Chronicles 30:10
Acts 17:32
Proverbs 29:1
Matthew 9:24
References Lord
Jeremiah 51:6
Isaiah 28:22
Jeremiah 20:7
15
And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take your wife, and your two daughters, which are here; lest you be consumed in the iniquity of the city.
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16
And while he lingered, the men laid hold on his hand, and on the hand of his wife, and on the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful to him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.
17
And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for your life; look not behind you, neither stay you in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest you be consumed.
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18
And Lot said to them, Oh, not so, my LORD:
19
Behold now, your servant has found grace in your sight, and you have magnified your mercy, which you have showed to me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:
20
Behold now, this city is near to flee to, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.
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Parallel theme
Psalm 119:175
21
And he said to him, See, I have accepted you concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which you have spoken.
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22
Haste you, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till you be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
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23
The sun was risen on the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.
24
Then the LORD rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;
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Parallel theme
Isaiah 13:19
Jude 1:7
2 Peter 2:6
Job 18:15
Lamentations 4:6
References Lord
Deuteronomy 29:23
Jeremiah 50:40
Amos 4:11
Jeremiah 20:16
Zephaniah 2:9
25
And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew on the ground.
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28
And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, see, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.
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29
And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelled.
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30
And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelled in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelled in a cave, he and his two daughters.
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Parallel theme
Genesis 19:19
31
And the firstborn said to the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth:
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32
Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
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Parallel theme
Genesis 11:3
33
And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.
34
And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said to the younger, Behold, I lay last night with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go you in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
35
And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.
36
Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father.
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Parallel theme
Habakkuk 2:15
37
And the first born bore a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites to this day.
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People
Parallel theme
Deuteronomy 2:9
38
And the younger, she also bore a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon to this day.
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Parallel theme
Deuteronomy 2:19
Summary of Genesis 19
Genesis chapter nineteen picks up directly where the intense bargaining session left off in chapter eighteen, answering any question the reader might have had about whether Sodom has even ten righteous men in it.
The chapter opens with the two angels arriving in Sodom in the evening, and Lot is sitting in the city gate, which was the traditional place for officials to sit in judgment. This suggests that Lot has taken up residence in Sodom, and in fact has achieved some status among its citizens. The two angels arrive, and he rises to meet them, bowing low before them and inviting them to stay at his home, where they will be able to wash their feet and rest before continuing on their journey. He insists that they spend the night in his home, and at first they refuse, saying they will spend the night in the city square, but he convinces them to return home with him. He sets food before them and bakes bread without leaven.
But before they can lie down and rest, the men of the city, all of them young and old, surround the house and demand that Lot bring out the men, so that they can "know" them, using a word that means to have sexual relations with them. Lot goes out the door and tells them to leave the men alone, that it's an outrage. But then he offers the men something that is difficult to stomach, suggesting that he would give them his two daughters, who are still virgins, in exchange for the safety of his guests. But they refuse to listen and tell him to leave the city, and they begin to mob the house to get him out. The men inside drag Lot back inside the house and shut the door before striking the men attempting to get in blind so they cannot see where the entrance is.
This is where the angels reveal for the first time that they are indeed messengers from God, carrying out his will. They tell him to take his wife and daughters out of the city, as well as any other people he can find, for the Lord is going to bring destruction upon it. The outcry against the city has grown to the point where the Lord has decided to bring that judgment himself. Lot goes to his sons-in-law, that is, the fathers of his daughters, and tells them to get out of the city, but they laugh at him, thinking he is joking.
The angels urge him to hurry and take his wife and daughters out of the city, for it is about to happen. The man seems reluctant at first, and even as he is hurried out of the city, the angels have to take his wife and daughters by the hand and lead him out of the city himself, for the Lord was merciful to him. Once they are outside, the angels tell him to flee to the mountains and not look back, for he must not be delayed going in the direction of the hills, so he does not get caught in his city's destruction. But he asks the angel to take them instead to a nearby little town, and the angel agrees, granting them this favor. The town is named Zoar, which means small.
And so the Lord rains down fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorrah, destroying the cities and everything in them. But as Lot and his family travel to Zoar, the wife looks back and is turned to salt. This is an incredibly brief moment that is mentioned only in passing, but it is a lesson that has stuck with people for thousands of years. Do not look back longingly at what you have left behind, but instead think of a better future ahead of you.
Abraham rises up early the next morning and sees the smoke rising from the cities like smoke from a furnace. The Lord has brought Lot out of the conflagration, and remembered Abraham, showing mercy to him.
The last part of the chapter is perhaps even grimmer, telling us the story of Lot and his two daughters. He is afraid to stay in Zoar, and so he takes up residence in a cave in the mountains with his two daughters. One fateful day, the daughters decide that there is no longer anyone on earth for them to marry, as all the men have died, and so they get their father drunk on wine on two consecutive nights and sleep with him, pretending that it is their father. Both become pregnant and bear sons, who become the progenitors of the Moabites and the Ammonites, peoples who appear later throughout the Old Testament.
Lot, his wife, and his two daughters form a sort of dark triptych at the end of this chapter of fire and brimstone. Between the mob violence of the Sodomites, the incendiary destruction visited upon the cities, Lot's wife turned to salt, and the grim ending in the cave involving his daughters getting him drunk and pretending that it is their father, chapter nineteen stands as one of the darkest chapters in Genesis.
The chapter opens with the two angels arriving in Sodom in the evening, and Lot is sitting in the city gate, which was the traditional place for officials to sit in judgment. This suggests that Lot has taken up residence in Sodom, and in fact has achieved some status among its citizens. The two angels arrive, and he rises to meet them, bowing low before them and inviting them to stay at his home, where they will be able to wash their feet and rest before continuing on their journey. He insists that they spend the night in his home, and at first they refuse, saying they will spend the night in the city square, but he convinces them to return home with him. He sets food before them and bakes bread without leaven.
But before they can lie down and rest, the men of the city, all of them young and old, surround the house and demand that Lot bring out the men, so that they can "know" them, using a word that means to have sexual relations with them. Lot goes out the door and tells them to leave the men alone, that it's an outrage. But then he offers the men something that is difficult to stomach, suggesting that he would give them his two daughters, who are still virgins, in exchange for the safety of his guests. But they refuse to listen and tell him to leave the city, and they begin to mob the house to get him out. The men inside drag Lot back inside the house and shut the door before striking the men attempting to get in blind so they cannot see where the entrance is.
This is where the angels reveal for the first time that they are indeed messengers from God, carrying out his will. They tell him to take his wife and daughters out of the city, as well as any other people he can find, for the Lord is going to bring destruction upon it. The outcry against the city has grown to the point where the Lord has decided to bring that judgment himself. Lot goes to his sons-in-law, that is, the fathers of his daughters, and tells them to get out of the city, but they laugh at him, thinking he is joking.
The angels urge him to hurry and take his wife and daughters out of the city, for it is about to happen. The man seems reluctant at first, and even as he is hurried out of the city, the angels have to take his wife and daughters by the hand and lead him out of the city himself, for the Lord was merciful to him. Once they are outside, the angels tell him to flee to the mountains and not look back, for he must not be delayed going in the direction of the hills, so he does not get caught in his city's destruction. But he asks the angel to take them instead to a nearby little town, and the angel agrees, granting them this favor. The town is named Zoar, which means small.
And so the Lord rains down fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorrah, destroying the cities and everything in them. But as Lot and his family travel to Zoar, the wife looks back and is turned to salt. This is an incredibly brief moment that is mentioned only in passing, but it is a lesson that has stuck with people for thousands of years. Do not look back longingly at what you have left behind, but instead think of a better future ahead of you.
Abraham rises up early the next morning and sees the smoke rising from the cities like smoke from a furnace. The Lord has brought Lot out of the conflagration, and remembered Abraham, showing mercy to him.
The last part of the chapter is perhaps even grimmer, telling us the story of Lot and his two daughters. He is afraid to stay in Zoar, and so he takes up residence in a cave in the mountains with his two daughters. One fateful day, the daughters decide that there is no longer anyone on earth for them to marry, as all the men have died, and so they get their father drunk on wine on two consecutive nights and sleep with him, pretending that it is their father. Both become pregnant and bear sons, who become the progenitors of the Moabites and the Ammonites, peoples who appear later throughout the Old Testament.
Lot, his wife, and his two daughters form a sort of dark triptych at the end of this chapter of fire and brimstone. Between the mob violence of the Sodomites, the incendiary destruction visited upon the cities, Lot's wife turned to salt, and the grim ending in the cave involving his daughters getting him drunk and pretending that it is their father, chapter nineteen stands as one of the darkest chapters in Genesis.